Ghostly Deceits (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 3) (9 page)

“
I
need
to walk off this food, and we can’t go outside to do it,” Harper lamented after dinner, leaning back in her chair and patting her stomach. “I’m glad we didn’t have to dress up tonight because there’s no way I would’ve fit into a dress.”

“You’re beautiful and you know it,” Jared said. “I’m stuffed, too. I know better than to eat that much and yet I can’t seem to stop myself.”

“You’re a glutton.”

“Pretty much,” Jared agreed.

“Maybe we should take a walk down some of these hallways before whatever tonight’s big murder mystery event happens to be goes down,” Harper suggested.

“We can do that,” Jared said, balling up his napkin and dropping it on the table. “Let’s take a walk.”

Jared let Harper pick the direction as they left the dining room and he wasn’t surprised she opted for the hallway that led past the library. Instead of turning into that room, though, she kept going.

“Do you know what’s down here?” Harper asked.

“No. Do you?”

Harper shook her head and slipped her hand in Jared’s. “No, but I haven’t seen anyone come down here since we’ve been here. Either it’s storage or they’re hiding something good.”

Jared snickered. “You’re such a busybody.”

“I think you have me confused with Zander.”

“Zander is the king of busybodies,” Jared clarified. “You might be the queen, though. Together you two are an unstoppable gossip force. When you add in Mel and Zander’s mother, I honestly think the world could cease to exist because it will get swallowed into a gossip black hole.”

Harper barked out a coarse laugh. “That is ridiculous,” she said. “I don’t gossip.”

“You and Zander spent twenty minutes this past week talking about how Eric and Molly hold their shoulders when they talk to one another and what that could possibly mean regarding a future romance,” Jared pointed out. “Are you saying that’s not gossip?”

“That is an observation.”

“Ten minutes after that you talked about how some hairdresser at the salon was getting a boob job and she was going to look like Dolly Parton if she wasn’t careful,” Jared said.

“That was … okay, that was gossip,” Harper conceded. “Fine. I like to gossip. Sue me.”

“As long as you admit it,” Jared said, kissing Harper’s cheek. “You’re very cute when you get feisty.”

“I’ll keep that in mind when you try to get me to take another bubble bath and conveniently lose the soap and have to feel around the tub until you find it,” Harper said, causing Jared to laugh.

“What? You don’t like that game?”

“You keep looking in odd places for the soap,” Harper said. “If the soap ended up where you were looking for it we’d have to call
Ripley’s Believe It or Not
because it would be hopping soap.”

“Given all the things you can do, I’ve learned never to rule anything out,” Jared said, slipping his arm around Harper’s waist and tugging her to him as he feigned seriousness. “I’ll show you something else that hops later if you’re a good girl.”

“You’re such a pig.”

Jared and Harper moved down the hallway, following the bending corridor until it led them into an ornate ballroom. Harper sucked in a breath when she saw it, the pink walls and exquisite chandeliers knocking her for a loop.

“Wow,” Jared said, releasing Harper so he could move farther into the room. “I had no idea this was here. This is so … .”

“Beautiful,” Harper enthused, her eyes wide as she tried to drink everything in.

“I was going to say tacky and ostentatious, but we can go with your word,” Jared said, grinning when Harper shot him an evil look. “It’s just so … pink.”

“That’s because it was designed in the 1970s,” Harper said, moving to the nearby wall so she could study the photographs on display. “Wow. Look at this. That’s William Milliken. He was Michigan’s governor back in the eighties.”

“How do you know that?” Jared asked, peering at the photograph. “He looks like your everyday random white dude.”

Harper made a face. “My grandfather was obsessed with writing him letters,” she said. “He used to complain about things he did all the time. I never understood why he was upset, but boy did he like mailing complaint letters.”

Jared snickered. “I wish I could’ve met him. He sounds fun.”

“I wish you could’ve met him, too,” Harper said.

“Would he have liked me?”

“Since you’re always making dirty suggestions, probably not,” Harper said. “If you behaved yourself in his presence, he definitely would’ve liked you.”

“Did he like Zander?”

“He loved Zander. He thought he was cheeky. That was the word he always used to describe him.”

“Zander is definitely cheeky,” Jared said. “I can think of a few other words to describe him, too.”

“Don’t be mean about my Zander,” Harper chided, moving to the next photograph. “No way.”

“What?” Jared followed Harper and widened his eyes when he saw the photograph. “Is that Sonny Bono?”

“That looks to be after his
Sonny & Cher
days but before his political days,” Harper said. “I wonder if he had ties to Michigan.”

“That would be my guess,” Jared said. “Oh, look, the eighties came to the Stokes’ house. Even the rich weren’t spared the atrocity of eighties hairstyles.”

Harper laughed as she stared at the three women in the photo. Their hair was as wide as it was long. She leaned forward after a moment, frowning as she tried to get a better look at the woman on the far right.

“What’s wrong?” Jared asked.

“I can’t be sure, but I’m almost positive this is the ghost I saw today,” Harper said, pointing.

Jared knit his eyebrows together and stared at the woman in question. She was pretty, beautiful even. Her hair was long and tinged with red highlights. Even though her hairstyle was ridiculous by today’s standards, you could tell she was the belle of whatever ball she was attending.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Harper said. “That’s her. It’s weird. I told Zander her clothes seemed dated and he was horrified to think she might be trapped in the eighties for all of eternity.”

“Did the ghost look the same age as this woman?” Jared asked, pointing.

“Pretty close,” Harper said. “I think the ghost looked like she was in her twenties or thirties. She might have been younger. I honestly didn’t get a good look at her because I was so amped up due to the storm.”

Jared removed the frame from the wall and turned it over. “I was hoping there would be some identifying card or something, but I guess not.”

“Open it,” Harper instructed. “My grandmother always writes the names of people on the back of the photographs, not the frames. Most people don’t have boxes of photographs hanging around these days so it’s kind of fallen out of habit, but if there’s going to be any sort of identifying marker on there, it will be inside of the frame.”

Jared did as Harper asked, pulling the cardboard buffer out and smiling when he saw cursive handwriting. “It looks like you were right … again.”

“You should just assume I’m always right and reward me accordingly,” Harper said, glancing at the names. “Janet Marcil, Theresa Coolidge, and Alice Thorpe. According to this, my ghost’s name is Alice.”

Jared flipped the photograph over again and studied the three faces. “I didn’t realize it right off, but Janet Marcil is Josh’s mother,” he said. “She looks a lot different now, but that’s her.”

Harper stared at the brunette in question. “When did she die?”

“She’s not dead,” Jared said. “Well, at least as far as I know. Josh didn’t mention losing his mother so I assume she’s still alive.”

“I haven’t seen her,” Harper said. “Linden has been all over the place. He’s been playing a part in the murder mysteries and hanging out with the guests. I guess I just assumed Josh’s mother was gone because she hasn’t put in an appearance.”

“She’s never been what I would call a fun person,” Jared said, putting the frame back together so he could replace it on the wall. “I only met her a few times when we were in college and each time she came to visit it was as if someone made her come.”

“That doesn’t sound like most mothers I know,” Harper said. “Why do you think she was so unpleasant?”

“I have no idea,” Jared answered, straightening the frame so it matched in with the others. “Linden was always happy and wanted to hear about all of our college shenanigans. Janet wanted to be anywhere but near us.”

“That’s sad,” Harper said. “My mother drives me nuts, but at least she’s interested in my life. Of course, in the case of my mother, she might be a little too interested.”

“I think she’s funny,” Jared said. “She reminds me of my mother in some ways, although I think it’s harder for mothers and daughters to relate than sons and mothers. Mothers and daughters fight because they’re so much alike while mothers dote on their sons.”

“Are you saying I’m like my mother?”

Jared didn’t like the tone of Harper’s voice. He recognized a trap when he saw one. “I’m saying that you’re my favorite person in the world.”

“Nice save, but now I’m going to wonder if you’re seeing my mother whenever we do … stuff. Thanks for giving me nightmares.”

Jared involuntarily shuddered. “And thank you for putting that image in my head. That was mean.”

“I think you deserved it,” Harper said, grinning. “I … oh, hey, Josh. We were just looking around.”

Jared swiveled when he realized they weren’t alone anymore, offering Josh a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry if we’re intruding, but we wanted to take a walk after dinner and our options were kind of limited,” he said. “We ended up here. I hope it’s not a problem.”

“It’s not a problem,” Josh said, moving closer to Harper and Jared. “No one ever comes in this room. It’s a shame.”

“How come you’re not using it for the mystery event?” Harper asked. “The guests would love it.”

“Yes, well, I would love it, too,” Josh said. “Unfortunately my mother would have kittens – not metaphorical kittens, real ones, mind you – if anyone dared have a good time in her beloved ballroom.”

“We were just talking about your mother,” Jared said, gesturing toward the photograph. “Harper assumed she was dead because we haven’t seen her. Is she out of town?”

“Oh, no, she’s here,” Josh said, making a face. “She’s ensconced in her suite because she can’t be bothered to mingle with the little people.”

“Tell us how you really feel,” Jared teased. “Is everything okay?”

Josh blew out a frustrated sigh. “My mother is having the toughest time adjusting to our new reality,” he said. “I love my mother, but … she’s difficult. She’s always been fairly distant with me and I have no idea how to talk to her.

“When this all went down she was living in denial,” he continued. “She didn’t want to see what was right in front of her and it was hard to explain something she had no interest in understanding.”

“Did she think you could magically turn the money situation around without sacrifice?” Harper asked, her heart going out to Josh. He was obviously struggling with his mother’s part in his life. She struggled with her mother, too, but it was nowhere near the degree Josh struggled.

“My mother never went to college and she has no head for business,” Josh replied. “She always spent money and never gave a thought to where it was coming from or what would happen if it stopped pouring in. It was … unfortunate … when things took a slide.

“It didn’t help that my father hid the realities of what was happening from her for a good six months,” he continued. “She spent money we didn’t have to lose during that entire time. She bought two cars and took expensive vacations. It was a nightmare.

“When I came home and found out what was going on I basically had to put her on an allowance,” Josh said. “It was quite small, especially when compared to what she was getting before. I sold some of her stuff and took away her credit cards. She pretty much looks at me as the enemy now.

“That was just the beginning, though,” he said. “When we decided to turn the house into a hotel she pitched a fit to rival the biggest divas in the world. She screamed and yelled and threw things. She demanded that we figure out something else to do – and give her the credit cards back – and when I told her this was our last shot she called me a liar and stormed out.

“She barely speaks to me now, and when I asked to use the ballroom for the mystery event, she pretty much threatened to stab me in the neck if I even tried,” he continued. “I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and let go of the ballroom idea. Things are fine with the space we have, but it would’ve been nice to have a dance party in here on the final night.”

“Holy crap,” Jared said. “What does your father say about all this?”

“My father does his best, but he’s unwilling to even discuss anything with my mother,” Josh answered. “They’re pretty much living separate lives. They even sleep in different bedrooms.”

“That’s sad,” Jared said. “I’m sorry you’re dealing with so much.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Harper said.

“It is what it is,” Josh said. “I can’t change it so I live with it. Out of curiosity, though, how come you were looking at my mother’s photograph?”

“Oh, I was curious about this woman,” Harper said, pointing to Alice. “She looks familiar for some reason, but I can’t seem to place where I think I know her from.”

Josh shrugged. “I have no idea who she is,” he said finally. “I’ve never seen her before. I’ve never even really looked at the photos in this room. It’s a little too pink for my liking, although I did skateboard in here one time and I legitimately thought my mother’s head was going to pop off when she found out. I can’t help you with that woman, though. I’m sorry.”

Harper was disappointed but not surprised. At best Josh would’ve been an infant when Alice Thorpe died. “That’s okay,” she said. “I was just curious.”

Jared wasn’t ready to let it go. “We opened the frame because Harper is a curious little thing and it said the woman’s name was Alice Thorpe. Does that ring any bells?”

Josh wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I can ask my father if it’s important.”

“It’s not important,” Harper said, shaking her head to send Jared a silent warning. “I was simply curious. She probably just has one of those familiar faces that make people think they recognize her when they really don’t.”